I've been trying to think of lots of ways to do things at home to try and create new memories during this crazy time, you may have seen my Ibiza party post here. Following on from that, I wanted to do little at home afternoon tea for my mum's birthday which was last weekend. Like with the Ibiza party I brought some decorations from Ginger Ray. (My new favourite website for party decorations.) I think when having an at home party it's really nice to decorate to give your home the right setting...especially when going out is limited at the moment.  

If you know me well you will know how much I love cocktails, so I couldn't have an afternoon tea without some. At the moment I'm loving following small local businesses on Instagram, I've recently discovered Dotty Mares which is a North-West London based cocktail horse box bar for special events. They have started doing cocktail at home deliveries on selected weekends, which is amazing! It feels like such a treat to have a cocktail made by someone else and delivered to your doorstep. I got some Expresso Martinis and Porn Star Martinis. They make the cocktails on the morning of delivery and put them in a jar, then they can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours. The cocktails were delicious and I will be ordering from them again. My friend and I were saying the other day how much we are enjoying just sitting in the garden having drinks instead of going out all the time to bars for drinks. 

Instead of pre-ordering an afternoon tea from a company or supermarket (I've seen looks of places doing this) I decided to buy the individual products myself as this way it makes it more personal as you can buy all of your favourite things. This is also a much cheaper option as most of the afternoon tea's I've seen online are £40+.  I picked up some unicorn cupcakes from ASDA, I just fell in love with the decorations on these.  Sandwiches and scones from M&S. I also managed to pick up an afternoon tea stand from a local household store near me for £9 and I had seen a few of these online for a lot more money. So it's worth looking around before you make a purchase. And now I've got this I can make afternoon teas more of a habit at home! 

Once life goes totally back to normal, I think I will still continue to do more things like this at home as I've really enjoyed it. I'd be posting any more at home parties I do in the future. 

I hope you enjoyed this post
Love
Nicole 
xx


One of the biggest trends this Summer is Tie-Dye, whether you want to try out a DIY style or buy an item from a store. I'm seeing Tie-Dye all over social media at the moment. Today I'm sharing three ways to wear Tie-Dye to give you a little inspiration on how to style your own items or if you are planning on buying some for your wardrobe. 


First up and probably the most statement look is a Co-ord. Here I've gone for a top and matching cycling shorts. My favourite part of this look is the puff sleeves on the top, it just gives an extra edgy vibe. I didn't jump on board with the cycling shorts trend last year. And looking at these cycling shorts on the hanger in store I was really unsure on them. However upon trying on the whole look, I've fallen in love with them. Which just goes to show you should try items of clothing on which are outside of your comfort zone. 


Denim shorts - Topshop 

Next up denim shorts, denim will pretty much go with any Tie-Dye item. And I'm sure all of you have some sort of denim item in your wardrobe. I like how these shorts have a ruffle effect at the top, to give them a slightly different finish. I'd wear this with some plain white trainers for an everyday look. 



Denim skirt - New Look 

My last look is again with denim, but this time a denim skirt. I've also tucked in the top for this look too. But this time round I'd dress up this look by swapping the trainers with a pair of wedges so it can be more of an evening look.

Below I've added some of my favourite Tie-Dye looks from the high street at the moment.
*Affilate links 

I hope you all enjoyed this post, let me know below in the comments what your favourite look is?

Love
Nicole
xx


'You can't pour from an empty cup, take care of yourself first.'

Self care is such an important part of looking after our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Life gets so busy and we are always on to the next thing whether that is going out to the fancy new cocktail bar or working super long hours to try and progress in our careers. It's so hard now to find the time to fit in self care yet it is something that is so important. Lockdown has made me realise that a slower pace of life is actually a good thing and it's really important to make some time for yourself. I've done this a lot over the last three months and I'm going to try my hardest to continue when life gets back to normal. So here are my 12 tips on ways to practice self care at home. 

1. Long Baths 

Make a little at home spa set up. Buy yourself some face/eye masks and your favourite lush bath bomb. Light some candles and completely relax. One thing I find really nice is to just sit in the bath and do nothing. Often I find myself setting up my laptop to watch something on Youtube or reading a book while in the bath. But there is a lot of joy in simply laying down and not putting pressure on yourself to do anything! 

2. At home nails 

For two years straight up until the beginning of this year I got gel nails done every couple of weeks. It's taken months but my nails are finally starting to look healthy again, and now I'm not looking back! I don't want to get gels again unless its a super special occasion. I've treated myself to some new nails inc polishes (TKMax have a good online sale at the moment!) and I've been enjoying switching up the colours of my nails every week. Top tip try to get good quality products that will last longer. Nails inc can last up to a week without chipping! 

3. Fitness

Staying motivated with fitness is hard, but once I find a good routine I do tend to stick to it. I've been loving Zoe's zoom classes (she does them on a Tuesday and Friday morning for more info check out here instagram here.) You can also check out my blog post interview with her all about fitness here.

4. Gratitude

Writing down three things you are grateful for everyday. Doing this first thing in the morning or last thing at night before you go to bed. This will help you not to forget the important things that make you happy.

5.  Treat yourself to a take away coffee 

Now that coffee shops are open for takeaways, treat yourself to your favourite drink and go for a walk or sit in your local park. I did this with my friend the other day and it makes your day feel a little bit more normal.

6. Baking

I've turned into the baking queen since the beginning of lockdown and I'm loving it so far.  I've got most of my recipes from Jane Patisserie here. I've actually got the NYC cookies baking in the oven right now as I'm writing this.

7. Keep track of your accomplishments

I was talking about this to someone the other day, we live in a world where we are always thinking about what we need to achieve next rather than be happy for what we have already achieved.

8. Edit your Social Media

Go through your social media feeds and mute or unfollow any accounts that no longer bring you joy! I do this every 6 months or so and it means when I'm scrolling through my instagram feed I'm enjoying most of the content I am seeing rather than spending so long scrolling through things you don't want to see or don't make you happy.

9. Spend quality time with people who make you happy 

Make sure you make time to spend with and see people who make you feel happy. Now that lockdown is being eased you can plan after work walks with your friends or going for a picnic. I always love it when you spend time with people and you leave with a smile on your face.

10. Listen to a podcasts

I love podcasts and may do a future post about my favourite ones. I enjoy listening to them when I'm cleaning or going for a walk by myself. Lily and Anna have just re-launched their podcast and I'm really enjoying it at the moment you can check it out here. It's just like listening to myself and my friends chatting.

11. Read a self help book 

My favourite is Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King. I would also recommend following him on instagram. This book talks all about how to look at the positives in your life. And really makes you think about how you can easily change your mindset to have a happier life.

12. Make yourself breakfast and then have it in bed 

I love breakfast in bed...but who said you need to wait for someone to do it for you! Make yourself some yummy breakfast then get back into bed watch something on your laptop/TV and have a chilled start to your day.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you have any other self care ideas.

Love
Nicole
xx


  









'Make the most out of every situation'

I think it's so important to make the most out of every situation that life throws at you. This week I should be in Ibiza living my best life, but for obvious reasons that isn't happening. I wanted to do something to make a new memory for what should have been a full on party week. As we are allowed up to 6 people in our gardens now I decided to create a little at home garden party (Ibiza style of course) from myself and my best friend Charlotte.

If you know me well when it comes to planning things I always put 110% effort in. If I didn't work in fashion I think I'd love to be in events planning.

Here are 5 ways you can transform your garden for an Ibiza party

1.  Decide on an area in your garden you want to focus on. For me I wanted this to be our decking area. I moved some of our garden furniture from the decking to other areas of the garden so I could create a little dance floor. (The space needed to be large enough for dancing 2 metres apart of course!) I then set up a little drinks table and had two chairs for us to sit down on at the end of the decking.

2. Pick your colour theme. For me this had to be pink and silver, this was pretty easy to pick as those are my favourite colours! Once you have picked your colour theme you can then look for decorations to fit in with your theme.

3. Set yourself a budget of how much you want to spend on decorations. I think this is super important because it's otherwise really easy to just add loads of stuff to your basket that looks pretty but the total ends up being £££s. I set myself a £50 budget.

4. I searched online for a good website to buy some decorations, I can across Ginger Ray (Which I have fallen in love with and have since made another online order for my mum's birthday at the end of the month) I wanted some ballon's to give an 'instagram' affect. I loved the PARTY ballon...this was the first thing I found on the website which I added to my basket. Then from there I found the other little touches like the straws, napkins and cups.

I love adding personal touches to things so wanted a banner with a photograph added. I got this from Party Pieces. And again I made sure this fitted in with my colour scheme and Ibiza vibes.

5. Get yourself ready! I sent Charlotte a text telling her what time and date to come to my house and told her to get dressed up as if we are going on an Ibiza night out. It was so much fun getting dressed up! I had brought some new clothes for this holiday so it was nice to be able to wear them and feel as if I was going out somewhere.

This day was so much fun and made me realise even in tough times we can think outside of the box and still make happy memories to look back on.

I hope you all enjoyed this post.
Love
Nicole
xx







I've tried wearing loungewear all day long and I've also spent time putting together a nice outfit in the morning and doing my hair and make up. And really it's whatever works best for you but for me the latter is better. I just feel a bit more myself and I'm 100% more productive on the days I make an effort. I've actually brought zero clothes during lockdown, so if you need some inspiration of what to wear making the most of what you already own than this post is for you! 

For me the key is wearing clothes that are comfortable enough to wear in the house all day long, but stylish enough to bump into someone I know on my daily walk. Or at least just having a really put together top half for zoom calls and catch up with friends. Lockdown is a great way to re-fall back in love with some items in your wardrobe. (You might want to read my post here which gives you tips for Spring Cleaning Your Wardrobe.) What I love about getting dressed up in the morning is, in the evening when I get into my pjs or other comfy clothes I feel like the day is broken up rather than all rolled into a blur. 

Outfit 1

I'm someone who is very much drawn to colours, wearing certain clothes makes me feel really good. My favourite colour if you can't tell already is pink. If I wake up feeling a bit rubbish adding some pink to my outfit will always make me feel a little bit better.  The skirt is from Topshop and is velvet which I love as this tends to just be a trend during autumn/winter. That being said I could team this with black tights during the colder months.  

Outfit 2

I've always been a lover off tee's but especially now as they are so effortless and need very simple styling. I always team tee's with shorts or jeans. My flamingo one is years old from Oasis and it comes on every Summer holiday with me. And this year I'm wearing it in my back garden to feel like I'm on holiday! 

 Outfit 3

Can you tell by now that I love Flamingos?! Again another old item...but one I love. This playsuit is from Rebecca Rhoades. I love this print and it screams summer vibes. Dress up Friday has become my new favourite thing to take part in. So I wore this a few weeks ago for virtual drinks! 

Outfit 4

Blue is another one of my 'feel good colours' I got this playsuit from Zara a few years ago. And I've had a few from them over the years and they are super comfortable which is one of the most important things for me when wearing outfits at home. 

Outfit 5

One of my favourite prints that never goes out of style is florals. I'm pretty sure most of you will have some sort of floral print in your wardrobe. It's one of those prints where you will probably end with a few items of clothing that are all similar. My favourite is by far black against coloured florals because I think it stands out more and I love statement pieces. Again this outfit is super comfy, loose dresses have to be one of the most comfortable fits especially when wearing them all day at home. 

I hope you like these outfits and it gives you some inspiration of what to wear! 

Love
Nicole 
xx    

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